Improved machine for making horseshoes



UNrrED STATES 'PATENT @Firma JAMES fr. WALKER, on ALBANY, ,NEW YORK.

IMPROVED MACHINE FOR MAKING ll-lonsl-z'sHox-zs.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 100,222, dated February22, 1870.

.To all wwm 71mg/ concern.-

'Be it known that I, JAMES T. yWALKER, of Albany, in the county ofAlbany and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovementin Horseshoe-lvIachines; andI do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, making a part of this specification.

The nature of v my invention consists,- first, in the -construction of ahorseshoe-machine so as to form the blanks the exact shape of theoutside of the shoe', second, in the construction of ahorseshoemachineso as to keep the heels of the shoe outward while the dies operate topress the shoe 5 third, in the construction of the dies in ahorseshoe-machine for pressing the shoes 5 and, fourth, in theconstruction and general arrangement of the entire machine, all of whichwill be hereinafter fully set forth.,

In-order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation, referring tothe annexed drawings, inwliichf' Figure l is a longitudinalvertical section of my machine. Figs.2, 3, and 4 are views of the eccentrically-groovedwheels or cams whichoperate the mechanism for dropping the shoeblank into the bottom dies.Figs. 5, 6,A and 7 are views of the eccentrcally-grooved wheels or camswhich operate the mechanism for bending the heels of the shoe-blankinward close to the tongue or former. Fig. 8 is a horizon tal section ofmy machine. Fig. 9 is a front view of the same. Fig. l() is a verticalsection of one of the ybottom dies, taken through the line x x, Fig.l1.v Fig. l1 is a side view of one ofthe bottom dies. Fig. 12 is abottom view of one of the upper dies, and Fig. 13 is avertical sectionofthe same,taken through line y y. -A represents the bed of my machine,at the front end of which are two standards, B B, supporting at theirupper ends, in suitable journal-boxes, a shaft, C. On the shaft C isplaced a cam, D, which operates the plunger E, moving vertically up anddown in a crosshead, G, securedbetween the two standards B B; Y

v'At the upper end of the plunger E, in suitable bearings, is placed aroller, H, against which the cam D bears to press the plunger downward.This roller is placed slightly back of the center of the shaft C, uponwhich the cam D is secured,'for the reason that if it was directlybeneath the center of "said shaft the cam would, when pressing upon 'theroller, cause the upper end of the plunger to be drawn toward the front,throwing thelower end rearward, and consequently the dies would not fit,as the motion of the plunger would not be perfectly perpendicular. Thiscould not be obviated by making the cross-head G so tight as to preventany inclination of the plunger, be-

cause I have found by practicalI experience that the pressure necessaryto be exerted upon the'plunger to press the shoes is so strong that thisforward action of the cam upon the upper end of the plunger will breakthe cross-head, it 4does not matter how strong it is made, un= lessthere is room to allow the plunger to in; oline; but if the plunger wasallowed to incline, the top die, I, secured to the lower end of theplunger,would not come down level on. the bottom dies. All thesedifficulties are entirely overcome by placing the roller H a shortv dis-.tance back of the center, as then the tendency of the cam 'will be tothrow the upper end of the 'plunger backward; but the frictioncounterbalances this tendency', and th-us the plun'; ger is moved withperfect ease perpendicu= larlythrough the cross-head. On each side ofthe plunger E, on' top of the cross-head G,

again as soon as the cam D ceases to exert the downward pressure uponthe' same.

Upon veach side of the cam D, on the shaft C, is placed a wheel, K, theouter periphery of which is grooved in the following manner: Forone-half the circumference it 'is grooved near the outer edge, and'forthe othermhalf near the inner edge, the two grooves a and c beingconnected at their ends by means of inclined passages b b', the passageb being'of the same depth as the grooves, while the pas sage bisprovided with projecting anges, and so constructed that' its bottom ison the same curve as the circumference of the wheel. The ends of thepassage b are inclined, so 'as to allow a pin moving inthe grooves a a',vas will be hereinafter described, to slide freely up and down throughsaid passage from one groove to the other. f

In suitable bearings. upon the front side of is a spring,'J, forthrowing thep'lungerV up the cross-head G, and on each side of theplunger, is a vertical rod, L, held upward by means of a spring, c, asshown in Figs. 1 and 9. Each of these rodsis at its upper end providedwith a handle or lever, M, having a pin, d, placed in the groove uponthe periphery of the wheel K, and held there by the spring c, as beforementioned. The lower ends of the rods L L are provided with feet N N,the use and operation of which will be hereinafter described.

At the rear end of the bed A, in suitable journal-boxes, is placed ashaft, O, provided with a cam, l?, which operates the horizontal plungerR, moving in guides upon the bed A. At the front end of the plunger B issecured the tongue S for bending the shoeblank. This plunger and tongueare moved back as soon as the cani ceases to operate by means of thespring c, as seen in Fig. l.

On each side of the cam l?, upon the shaft O, is placed a wheel, T,grooved upon its peripheryin the following manner: For one-half thecircumferen ce the groove f is at or near theA center, while for theother half the circumference there is a groove, f', near the inner edgeof the wheel. The two grooves ff are connected by means of two passages,g and g', the passage r/ being straight, as shown in Fig. 7, while thepassage g is curved, as shown in Fig. 6, coming near the outer edge ofthe wheel.

Upon the bed A, at each side of the plunger R, is pivoted a lever, V,the rear ends of which extend over and rest upon the wheels T T, and areprovided with a pin, 71, moving in the grooves on the periphery of saidWheels. The

- `front ends of the levers V V extend to near the heel of the bottomdie, and are on their under sides provided with guides or hooks t,turnedtoward the rear, as shown in Fig. l. These hooks, by theirconstruction, form a rest for the bottom and forward side ofthe rod onits passage inv the machine from the furnace, and prevent the twistingor springing of the rod as the former acts upon it. On top of the guide,through which the horizontal plunger R passes, are ears orprojecjections, between which a lever, NV, is pivoted, t-he rear end ofsaid lever being ofthe shape shown in Fig. l, so as to be operated uponby means of a camshaped projection, X, on the shaft O, between the cam Pand one of the wheels T. The front end of the lever XV is provided witha metal cross-bar or foot, ou, resting under the rear edge of the upperdie when the lever is not in contact with the cam X. The front end ofsaid lever is held up in this position either by the excess in weight ofits rear end or by a spring, k, attached to its rear end, as shown inFig. 1.

The heated iron bar from which the shoes are` to be pressed isintroduced through a suitable aperture and groove in the side 0f themachine until it rests in the hooks i i 0f the levers V V, when it iscut off by a knife 011 cutter the desired length. I have not deemed itnecessary to represent nor describe this cutting device, as it is averycommon mechanism. After the blank has been cut,and the shafts C and Orevolving in opposite directions, the cam P moves the plunger lt andtongue S forward, bending the blank, the ends ofthe blank being held bythe hooks i t'. Just before the tongue S bends the blank the feet N N,onthe rods L L,have been turned inward by the pins el d, passing throughthe passages b b into the grooves c a on the wheels K K, and said feetare in such a position that the tongue Swith the shoe-blank, will passdirectly under the same, or rather` the blank alone will. come directlyunderthe feet. The plunger R, with its tongue S, having been movedforward the required distance to bend the blank, the front ends of thelevers V V are moved inward by means ofthe pins h 7L moving through thecurved passages g g on the wheels T T. This inward movement of thelevers VV is only for an instant, but sufficient to bend the ends of'the shoe-blank inward along the sides ofthe tongue S, forming the heelof the shoe. The pinsh IL passing directly into the grooves f f thefront ends of the levers V V are moved outward sufficiently to clear thedies. At the saine time the pins d d, passing through the passages Z/ bon the wheels K K, cause the feet N N to descend, carrying with them theshoeblank from the tongue Sand depositing it int-o the lower dies, y y,the spring e at the same time carrying the plunger R, with the tongue,backward. As soon as the feet N N have cleared the blank from the tongueand deposited it in the bottom dies they move out ward by the pins d dpassing into the outer grooves, c a, after completing the passages b' b.The cam D now commences to operate upon the roller H, forcing theplunger E,with the top die, I, down upon the blank in the lower orbottom dies. The top die, I, in its motion downward, carries witlrit thefront end of the lever W, it being remembered that the foot m on saidlever Vis directly under the rear edge of the side. The frontend of thelever W describing a circle, it will be understood that the foot m, atthe time when the upper die is near the blank, has moved ont of the wayof the die, and is held down upon the ends of the blank in the bottomdies by the rear end of the lever resting upon the projection X of thewheel O. Vhen the upper die moves up ward again, by means of the springs.T J, the foot m remains upon the heel of the shoe, as the entireprojection X has not yet passed the rear end of the lever NV, and thusthe shoe will be prevented from adhering to and being carried up by theupper die. \Vhen the up* per die has returned to its first position, thepins d d pass through the passages b b into the inner grooves, a a',which throws the feet N N i inward again to their original position, andas soon as the projection X has cleared the rear end of the lever W',throwing the foot m up again, the hooks 'i fi are thrown into theirproper position to receive the next blank by the pins h h passingthrough the passages g g into the I usual die with perpendicular walls,if I so degrooves fj'.

The bottom dies, YY, areopened and closed by any suitable mechanism,and'I have not deemed it necessary to represent or describe the same, asI may employ for that purpose the mechanism described in the patent to Ja- I cob Zepf, dated November 10, 1868, said pat! ent being assigned toand owned by me. Still, I do not mean to confine myself to the mechanismtherein described, as it may be aecomplished in various ways.

Vhenl the upper die has pressed the shoe and moves upward again, thebottom dies separate and allow the completed shoe to fall down l throughan aperture in the frame or bed A; and

the dies, striking the shoe and loosening it at once from the die, so asto allow it to drop down.

A horseshoe should invariably be thinner at the toe than at the heel,and to press the blank so as to produce this incline one of thev diesmust be inclined. If the bottom die is level and the top die inclined,there is no machinery that could withstand the pressurebelts, pulleys,wheels,'and, in fact, everything, would break; but if the incline is inthe bottom dies and the top die is made to come down level where it isto press the blank, then the iron will have a chance to spread inwardand downward on the incline on which it is placed, and consequentlythere will be not the slightest danger of any injury to the machinery.For this reason I form the sides, or rather the bottom, of the lowerdies, Y Y, with an incline from the'toe o t0 the heel p, as shown inFig. ll. Vhen, now, the top die, I, comes down upon the blank, itstrikes the blank at the toe first-that is, the main portion of the diedoes-and spreads the iron inwardto the frog of the upper die, formingthe inner edge of the shoe.

It will be observed that by my machine the blank is formed at rst theexact shape of the outside of the shoe, and then the iron, by pressing,spreads inward the entire length of the shoe, while in all otherhorseshoe-machines the iron has been spread, by rolling, inward from thetoe and outward from the heel and rear portion of the shoe.

Along the sides of the bottom dies, Y Y, are beveled grooves o', asshown in Fig. 10. The blank, when first placed in the dies, does, ofcourse, not fill up these grooves, but occupies a perpendicular linedrawn from the top of the bevel to bottom of die. Vhen the creasers s sin the top die strike the blank, they force the iron into this bevel,forming the incline on the outside of the shoe usually found in handmadeshoes, but never in machine-made. l

I do not wish to confine myself to the use of the die above described,which forms a bevel on the outer edge of the shoe, as I may use the sireit. The creasers s s, in forcing the iron into this bevel, have atendency to draw the heels of the blank inward, and to prevent this Iprovide the frog of the upper die with a projection, t, which iits inthe space between the ends of the blank an d prevents them from contracting.

The upper die, I, is so formed that when l it descends the projectionwill first come in between the ends of the blank; then the creasersstrike the blank and force the iron into the groove r, and lastly themain portion ofthe die comes down, as above described, and presses theshoe.

The tongue S and dies I and y y can be readily exchanged for others ofdifferent size, and then other portions of the machine-such as the feetN N and m and pins d d and h h-must be adjusted to suit.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine for making horseshoes, constructing and arranging themale or movable die with its operative surface at right angles to theline of motion imparted to it, and the female or stationary die with itsoperative surface inclined to said line of motion, the inclination beingequal to the difference between the thickness of the toe and heel of theshoe, substantially as described.

2. In combination with the male and female dies constructed and arrangedas above claimed, the projection t, or its equivalent, for holding theheel of the blank apart, and for preventing contraction while it isbeing pressed into shape, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a horseshoe-making machine, of a reciprocating,former of such shape as will, by bending the bar around it, give to theexternal edge of the blank the eX- act shape of the iinished shoe,mechanism to strip the blank off the former, mechanism to withdraw theformer out of the path of the male die, a vertically-reciprocating maledie, and laterally-moving female dies made in two parts, all constructedand operated to form a pressed horseshoe, as set forth.

4. In a machine for making horseshoes, constructing the shoe-formingdies, as herein described, so that the shoe is beveled on its outer edgeas it is being pressed into shape.

5. The combination of the eccentrically camgrooved wheels K, levers M,rods L, and feet N, all substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. Arranging the friction-roller II on the head of the plunger E in aplane parallel to but on one side of that which passes through thecenter or axis of the shaft C, for the purposes set forth.

7. In combinanation withrthe former S, the elongated bending-levers V V,provided with hooks i 'i at their front ends, on their ,'und'er sides,pivoted to the bed of the machine and operated through the medium of thecams rI T for the purpose of guiding and preventing` the twisting orspringing of the iron bar before the blank is formed, and for knockinginward the heel of the blank after it is formed, substantially as setforth.

8; The'eombination of the foot or clearer m with mechanism for operatingthe same, substantially as described, and with the male die I, for thepurposes set forth.

9. The combination of the laterally-moving female dies y y, providedwith an incline7 o p, :and bevel T, with the vertically-reeiproeatingmale die I, With its creasers s and projection t, all operatingsubstantially as setviorth.

JAMES fr. WALKER.

Vitnesses:

ARTHUR N. MARR, C. L. EVERT.

